RCR eyes teleradiology network to ease staff shortage

The severe shortage of radiologists is prompting the U.K. Royal College of Radiologists (RCR) to propose the development of its own network teleradiology platform (NTP).

Such a network would enable diagnostic images and reports to be shared between interconnected hospital groups, or trusts, in the National Health Service (NHS). This will help to reduce backlogs in image interpretation and spending on outsourced teleradiology services, the RCR said in a statement accompanying the release of its new report titled "Who shares wins: efficient, collaborative radiology solutions gives NHS departments and sustainability and transformation plan leads practical details on precisely how they could work collaboratively and share images effectively."

Night-time radiology reporting could be made more efficient and cost-effective by reporting at network levels using NTPs, noted RCR President Dr. Nicola Strickland.

"Such platforms could also allow different trusts to tap into expertise in specialist areas such as pediatric or head and neck radiology, which, in some smaller trusts, are often supported by only one radiologist," she said.

NTPs create an information technology infrastructure for sharing reporting capacity, rather than paying private teleradiology providers to provide this service, the RCR said. Such an NTP would also support network-based call for stroke physicians and neurosurgeons, optimizing scarce physician resources that are inadequate in most parts of the country, the RCR stated. In addition, the network would support network-based multidisciplinary team meetings.

A recent RCR analysis found that systems for sharing imaging studies and radiology reports are mostly inadequate across the NHS, particularly report sharing between hospitals, leading to unnecessary delays and the potential for patient harm, the report stated.

"Radiologists and oncologists are deeply frustrated by the difficulties encountered when sharing imaging studies between local and regional hospitals," Strickland said.

NTPs created regionally, integrated with vendor NTPs, set up regionally throughout the U.K., and integrated with a vendor-neutral index could solve many of the shortages plaguing the NHS today, to the benefit of both clinicians and patients, Strickland said.